Slade (7 page)

The highway stretched and
they were moving as fast as Slade dared push the vehicle without running afoul of law enforcement. But inside the rented SUV, the moment was quiet… intense. Emotions ran high from the little woman sitting at his side. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her with his touch, but maybe it was better he couldn’t. Like a lost little kitten, he had to let her come to him—verbally, emotionally, and ultimately, physically. If they got that far.

And the Goddess knew, he wanted to get that far—as far as Kate would let him
go. He wanted her, and if fate was kind, he’d have her in his bed before he left Nevada.

“They weren’t bad people. They just didn’t understand me. I can’t blame them, really. I don’t understand myself half the time.” She smiled faintly, ruefully. “I searched for a long time before finding someone who knew what magic was and was willing to help me. It didn’t turn out the way I expected, but at least it set me on the path.”

Slade sensed turmoil from her as she thought about her past. He
had
to reach out this time, placing one hand over hers on the console between them. That simple action drew her gaze as their energies met and twined together the tiniest bit, as if offering comfort.

“The first magic user I met tried to trick me. Actually, he
did
trick me. I’m not too proud to admit it. I was a fool. I got used and abused and it almost destroyed me both emotionally and magically.” She pulled her hand out from under Slade’s and turned to look out the window again.

If she could have, he imagined she would have rolled up into a fetal ball. As it was, both hands clutched her stomach as if pain lingered. The guy, whoever he was, must have really hurt her.

Slade wanted to kill him. Plain. Simple. Black and white. Slade wanted the bastard dead, his blood pooling out under Slade’s claws.

Whoa, boy.

Slade wasn’t entirely successful in suppressing his growl. It rumbled through the small cab of the SUV, low and deadly before he could stop himself.

Kate looked over at him, surprise in her gaze, but no fear. “It’s really okay, Slade. He’s long gone and I learned a valuable lesson from him. Nobody ever took advantage of my naiveté like that again. And they never will.” Her mood switched from victim to victor in that moment and Slade calmed.

She had become stronger as a result of her life experience. He would have spared her the bad times if he could, but at least she had learned from them. Not everyone was so lucky. Many people had to repeat the mistakes over and over before they evolved—if they ever did.

“So what’s the story? Did you fall for a guy who only wanted you for your power?” He didn’t
want
to know, but perversely
needed
to know the details.

This little priestess was beguiling him. Making him want things he’d never really wanted before. He wanted to know what made her tick, and all about her past. That wasn’t something he generally cared about when he was attracted to a woman. Usually, the less he knew about a bed partner, the better. But not so with Kate.

She fascinated him in many different ways. The taste of her magic, the strength of her power, the beauty of her spirit and the lovely package that wrapped all of it—those things only hinted at the core of the woman beneath. And he wanted to know all about her. What made her the way she was and where she’d come from. The paths she’d walked before meeting him and what they had done to her.

Slade almost shook his head at his own thoughts. Was he becoming sentimental in his old age? Probably not, but this reaction was definitely a change for him. Something about th
is priestess brought out more than just his protective side. She inspired feelings he’d never really experienced before in conjunction with a woman he wanted to fuck so bad, his eyes nearly crossed.

And the need for her was only growing stronger as they talked, not weaker. In the past, when a woman started unloading the baggage of her past on him, Slade’s interest would quickly wane. Not with this woman. No, the more she revealed, the more he wanted to know.

It was something to ponder. Later. First he wanted to hear more about the man who’d almost broken her. And he wanted most especially to know the bastard’s name so he could hunt him down and…

“Wayne was
older than me. Not a lot older, just enough to make him seem more worldly and interesting to a twenty year old who had little experience with men. He was charming and urbane and within six months of meeting him, I’d moved in with him.”

“How did you meet
?” Slade ruthlessly suppressed his desire to growl in both anger and triumph. He’d learned the man’s first name. He only needed a little more to track him down.

“He was a research assistant at the university I attended. He was working on his Ph.D. while I was a shy undergrad. He knew about magic. He was the first person I’d ever met who understood the energies I’d been s
eeing and manipulating all my life.”

“So he became your mentor in magic as well as your lover?” Slade wanted to claw something, but held the anger in. It wouldn’t do to scare her. Not when she was just opening up to him.

“Something like that. I didn’t realize until about six months later that he was slowly siphoning off my power. He was a magical parasite. He was growing stronger while I was getting weaker.”

“A magical vampire?” Slade asked, surprised. He’d never really heard of such a thing, but he supposed it was possible.

“Yeah. A vampire. That’s a good word for him, though not the bloodletting kind. This guy was more like the old horror movie bad guys.” She sounded bitter and more than a little angry. Good for her. She still had some spirit after what had been done to her.

“You thought he loved you?” Slade asked in a quiet voice.

“Oh, yeah. I bought his act hook, line and sinker. All he really wanted was to drain my power and make himself even stronger.”

“How’d you make the break?”

“I didn’t let on that I realized what he was doing. I’d been suspicious, but I didn’t really know for sure until I had a little magical breakdown one day. It was as if I was blind to the magical world. I couldn’t sense anything. Not the green light and song of the trees or the golden pulse of the earth. All my magical senses were gone. That’s when I finally realized the extent of what he’d done to me. I packed my stuff when he was working and took off.”

“You lost your ability to sense magic?” He was shocked she’d been through so much. “How did you evade him if you couldn’t sense him coming? I assume he tracked you?”

“Yeah, he tracked me. But during our relationship, there was one place he refused to allow me to go. There was a little spot up in the woods above campus. It was a stone circle. It was sort of infamous among certain student groups. It was rumored some of the goth kids would go up there on the full moon and party, though I never really saw any evidence of it. I’d wanted to investigate it, but Wayne refused to let me go near the site. He told me it was an evil place and that I’d die if I went up there. When I ran for it, I figured if he’d been lying to me about everything else, that had to be wrong too. So I hiked up there with my little knapsack full of all my worldly possessions, sat down in the center of the stone circle and cried my eyes out.”

He reached out to her again, placing one hand on her arm. She didn’t move away and he
stroked her skin gently, offering what comfort he could while still driving safely down the highway. They were getting close to their objective, but he wanted to hear the rest of her tale. He was feeling more than a little torn between duty and his desire to comfort the incredible woman he’d discovered.

“How did you get away from him? He must have found you
up there, right?” Slade could guess how the story went, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“He came to the circle
, but he couldn’t enter. He prowled around the perimeter alternately whining and shouting, berating me. Calling me a stupid cow. Then he’d be cajoling, trying to get me to come back to him. Fat chance.” She made a rude sound and Slade felt a smile coming on. She had spirit and he discovered he’d like that in a woman. “Night fell and I didn’t realize it then, but it was the sabbat of Imbolc.”

“February,” Slade realized. “I hope you went to school in the south.”

His attempt at levity seemed successful. She turned to him and smiled. “Texas A&M,” she replied. “It was chilly, but not freezing.”

“And since you were in a stone circle
on Saint Brighid’s Day, I’m guessing at some point somebody showed up. Shifters? A priestess or two? A coven of witches?” he teased.

“Remember those goth kids I mentioned? Well, they weren’t just goth. They were
werewolves. And one of the philosophy professors was a priestess. She was an older lady, gray haired and sort of sturdy, of German background. She huffed and puffed her way up that hill and found Wayne there, berating me. I was still in tears, a mess from what he’d done and the things he’d been saying since he showed up at the stone circle. She was having none of it. She tapped her walking stick on the ground and that’s when Wayne got his first taste of
real
power. Me too, actually. The magic came flooding back as the pathways inside me that had been starved were suddenly filled. I stopped crying and watched her take Wayne down a peg or two while the wolves ranged around her protectively. He was totally outclassed and outnumbered, but he still didn’t leave.”

“He didn’t want to give up his juicy prize,” Slade said, disgusted with the other man.

“Too right,” Kate agreed. Her voice was stronger now as she remembered the moment she had broken free of Wayne’s hold over her. “I stood up and began speaking. I told him off at first and then, it was like something took me over, and I cursed him, dispersing his power and sending it back to Mother Earth. I had no idea where that came from. I’d never done such a thing before, but I think the Goddess spoke through me on that special night, while I was standing in that sacred place. She worked through me to stop Wayne’s evil.”

“You became a priestess that night, didn’t you?” Slade asked, intrigued by the idea. He’d never heard of such a unique experience. Kate was proving herself to be special in many different ways.

“Yeah, by accident, I guess, but it was the best
accident
I’ve ever been in. It changed my life. It impressed the heck out of Hilda and the wolves. They took me in, though I think they were always a little afraid of me after that. I spent the next two years with them as I finished my degree and learned about being a priestess from old Hilda. The wolves were friendly after that, but not gushingly so. They protected me. And Wayne was run out of the university—out of the state, even. They hustled him out of there so fast, I think his head is still spinning.” She laughed for the first time since starting her sad tale. “The wolves keep tabs on him, just in case. For my part, I’ll be happy if I never see his sorry face ever again.”

Slade felt satisfaction rumble through him at her words. Good. She was over the other man and didn’t want anything
to do with him. She’d had her closure and was content to let others handle the follow up. To him, that was a good sign.

“Where did you go after that?” Slade wanted her to keep talking. He wanted to know everything she was willing to tell him about her past.

“Hilda had some friends up north. I apprenticed with two priestesses in Indiana for a few years, then moved to Missouri to learn more from a solo priestess who needed some help. She was being overrun by magic users who wanted control of the stone circle she guarded. They weren’t evil, just misguided, and there was a bit of a turf war going on until I showed up as reinforcement. I’ve always been pretty good at offensive magic—ever since what happened with Wayne, at least—so Allie and Betina send me in where there’s a problem. This is the first peaceful assignment I’ve been given, actually,” she reflected.

“Not so peaceful now, though, is it?” Slade took the exit he needed off the highway and began
to navigate the smaller streets. They were close now.

“The Lady moves in myste
rious ways. The High Priestess couldn’t have known what was going to happen, but maybe she had a feeling that I needed to be here. Who knows? At this point, I’m just glad I’m here to help.”

“Me too,” Slade admitted.

He hadn’t been expecting to have a partner on this mission, but he found himself glad Kate was around and able to illuminate the magical path. That was something he couldn’t do on his own and he was man enough to admit that he wouldn’t have gotten this far on the trail without her.

Slade usually worked alone. He’d spent decades perfecting his skills and the few times he had tried to work with a partner had been lessons in frustration. Not so, this time. He was rapidly discovering he not only liked having Kate around, but she was damn useful when it came time to track.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him and he felt his heart lift.

Slade turned the vehicle, shattering the moment as they arrived at their destination. She had no idea why she’d opened up to him the way she had. Normally, she was very reticent to speak about her past with anyone. Something about Slade appealed to her on many different levels, and he’d turned out to be a good listener. Who would have guessed it?